Asian Tech Press (May 26) -- Sony plans to significantly increase production of PS5 consoles as supply chain issues ease.

The Japanese gaming giant plans to raise global sales of PS5 consoles by 57% to 18 million units for the fiscal year 2022, ending March 31, 2023.

The game console PlayStation 5, goingon sale in November 2020, has long been in short supply.

"We're playing on a significant ramp up in PS5 production this year, allowing us to close the gap versus PS4," said Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan at an investor briefing on Thursday.

Ryan added, "We're planning for heavy further increases in console production, taking us to production levels that we've never achieved before."

The PlayStation5 has sold less than the PS4 in its second year due to supply chain issues plaguing the electronics industry, but Sony expected it would close the gap this year and surpass PS4 installations next year.